


i’ll be there for you (but you gotta be there for me too)

by ryneisaterriblefan



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Angst with a Happy Ending, Fluff and Angst, Gen, Hurt Keith (Voltron), Hurt/Comfort, Keith (Voltron) Angst, Keith (Voltron) is Bad at Feelings, Lance being supportive, Post Season 4, Soft and Fluffy, cough cough, everyone being supprtive tbh, love and acceptance, this is a mess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-26
Updated: 2018-06-26
Packaged: 2019-05-28 23:52:35
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15060524
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ryneisaterriblefan/pseuds/ryneisaterriblefan
Summary: ‘Can you guys slap Keith for me?’





	i’ll be there for you (but you gotta be there for me too)

**Author's Note:**

> This is vv rushed pls don’t hit me

‘Can you guys do me a favor?’

Pidge nods at him, smile still on her face as she watches everything that’s going on around them, the other paladins surrounding her and exchanging light, cheerful conversation.

Matt takes a deep breath, then says, ‘Can you slap Keith in the face as hard as you can?’

At the mention of their former teammate, the others turns toward him, even Lotor raising an eyebrow as Lance cocks his head to the side.

‘Slap Keith?’ Allura asks, eyes widening a bit in confusion.

Matt resists the urge to swoon as he says, ‘Yes, princess.’

‘But why?’

Matt furrows his eyebrows in confusion. ‘Don’t you know?’

By now, the team has worried looks on their faces, with the exception of Shiro, who’s talking to Keith, just far enough from them that they’re out of earshot.

When they all collectively nod, Matt sighs. This is a lot harder than he thought it was going to be.

‘Matt,’ Pidge says, in her no-nonsense voice.

‘So you know,’ Matt begins hesitantly, ‘when Keith said he had an idea to break the barrier?’

Everyone nods.

Matt continues, though he’s trying to space out the words as much as he can. ‘So, like, Keith - uh, his idea was - uh, to - ‘

‘Matt,’ Lance says, looking him in the eye, worry evident on his face, ‘Just say it.’

Matt takes another deep breath, ‘He was going to break the particle barrier himself.’

The realization comes slowly. At first, they don’t understand, but - as always - Pidge is the first to understand, eyes going wide and hand coming up to cover her mouth. ‘No.’

Matt nods, and then the rest of them understand, looks of shock and disbelief crossing their faces.

‘Keith,’ Lance says, haltingly, ‘Just to make sure - Keith - he tried to break it. Himself. Meaning?’

Hunk, who’s been quiet up until now, ‘Keith was going to fly into the barrier.’

Matt nods, looking down at the ground.

There’s silence. He can hear almost everyone’s thoughts floating around him; the worry’ the confusion; the hurt and sorrow that’s etching itself onto heir minds.

He knows how it must hurt to see their teammate try to sacrifice himself without their knowledge.

Pidge is the first to break away from the group -

\- and for a moment Matt worries that he’s being too hard on Keith because his sister is definitely not a force to be reckoned with, but tells himself Keith deserves it.

The slap is so loud that Matt can hear it from where he’s standing.

He smiles a bit to himself, and hangs back to talk to Lotor.

 

Okay, Pidge punching him had come out of nowhere, but Keith deserves it.

He’s going to throttle Matt later.

‘What the hell was that?’ Pidge demands, getting up in face, hands gripping the front of his hood.

‘Nothing,’ Keith mumbles, eyes downcast in an attempt not to look at her.

‘Nothing, my ass!’ Pidge yells. She sounds /furious/, and Keith would rather face a horde of angry Galras than a furious Pidge, thanks.

‘It’s nothing, okay? It’s not important, anyways,’ Keith mumbles, still looking down.

Pidge opens her mouth to say something, but before she says anything, someone punches his shoulder.

It’s Lance.

‘What the fuck, man?’

Oh, god. Keith /really/ doesn’t want do deal with anything right now.

‘Guys, what’s happening?’ Shiro’s concerned voice rises up, and there’s a second of blessed silence as everyone mentally debates about who’s going to spill the beans.

‘Keith,’ Allura says finally, from somewhere behind him, ‘was going to fly into the particle barrier to break it.’

There’s another moment of sweet silence in which Keith wishes that he can actually wink out of existence, curling in on himself, despite the fact that Pidge is still gripping onto the front of his clothes.

‘Keith?’ Shiro’s uncertain voice asks, and it takes everything not to just break down and start crying.

‘Keith?’ Lance echoes, hand unsteadily placed into Keith’s shoulder.

‘I don’t know,’ Keith mutters. ‘Just - just - I’m sorry, okay?’

The tension in the air is so thick, and Keith wants to run away from it all. ‘Hey, man,’ Lance says, ‘Just tell us why, okay?’

‘Well, /I don’t know/, Lance,’ Keith snaps, ‘I wanted to help, okay? I wanted to /fucking/ help, but hey, with you as the red paladin, Allura as the blue and Shiro as the leader again, I wanted to fucking /help/, okay?’

After his mini-rant, Keith stops to take a breath, avoiding all eye contact as he tries to catch his breath.

‘If you want to,’ Allura suddenly says, ‘I could - ‘

‘No,’ Keith hisses, ‘I don’t need your pity. Don’t - just don’t care about me, okay? I was being selfish.’

He makes a move to get away from them, the suffocating silence that falls after he speaks. Pidge lets him go.

Keith’s not out of the door, however, when a hand on his wrist stops him.

‘No,’ Keith argues, not looking back, and trying to contain the tears now forming in his eyes, ‘No. Just let me /go/.’

‘Keith,’ Lance says, no trace of humor or cheer in his voice. Just plain-out fear and worry, ‘Please.’

‘No.’ Even as he says it, the word sounds weak, turning to nothing as the tears fall from his eyes without permission.

/Fuck/. His chest hurts.

‘Keith,’ Lance implores again.

Keith breaks.

‘I felt alone, okay? The Blade was - is - a good place to fight, but you can’t be emotional there. I - I missed you. It hurt that I couldn’t do anything to help you - and when I saw the chance, I thought that I could help. Guess I was wrong again,’ he finishes bitterly.

Lance’s grip on his wrist loosens, but he still doesn’t let go. The room is quiet, save for Lotor and Matt’s quiet conversation in the corner.

‘Keith,’ Shiro says from behind him.

‘No.’

‘Please,’ he says, and Keith uses all his willpower not to turn around and apologize. ‘You know we love you.’

Keith grits his teeth. ‘It doesn’t matter.’

‘Of course it fucking matters, you ass!’

Everyone looks in surprise at Pidge, who’s got her arms crossed and glaring at him like there’s no tomorrow.

‘We care about you, okay?! Don’t you, ever think about that? You might not have felt at home here at first, but - but we’re a family now, get it?’

Keith doesn’t say anything, for fear of his voice breaking, and he’s not prepared for the second when Lance suddenly pulls his arm and wraps him in a tight hug.

‘Hey,’ he says quietly, almost whispering, ‘I understand, okay?’

Keith almost feels his heart stop.

‘I understand, because if I were in your position, I would’ve done that too. But it’s over okay? But please, /please/ promise me that you won’t do it again.’

Keith buries his face into Lance’s jacket, and - he’s probably making a mess of it, but he doesn’t care - cries silently, trying to control his labored breaths; he’s so focused on himself that he doesn’t notice Lance’s hand coming up to softly stroke his hair.

And, before he knows it, Keith’s buried in a group hug.

Shiro’s behind him, and Hunk hugs both him and Lance while Allura and Pidge hug his sides. Even Coran manages to join in, seemingly appearing out of nowhere after talking with some of the Galras.

‘Even if you don’t do it for one of us,’ Pidge says, ‘Do it for the whole team, okay? We care about you, Keith. And - it matters. /You/ matter to us.’

Keith, still sniveling a bit, nods. As much as he can anyways.

‘I won’t give up on you, Keith,’ Shiro says, arms tightening the tiniest bit around him, ‘I promised you that, and I don’t /ever/ plan on taking it back.’

‘Yeah,’ Hunk says, a bit a smile in his voice, ‘I need someone to taste test my food.’

Pidge chuckles, ‘And I want to laugh at you and Lance bickering.’

Amidst all the love and acceptance, Keith manages to roll his eyes, voice coming out raspy when he speaks. ‘Gee, nice to know that’s all you want me for.’

The team collectively laughs, and out of the corner of his eye, Keith sees Matt wave at him.

He might just have to thank him later.

**Author's Note:**

> Point out any mistakes if you see I did not edit at all. I’ll do the formatting tmrw lol
> 
> My tumblrs ryneisaterriblefan pls visit if u wanna


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